Kaleidoscope
by M1ssUnd3rst4nd1ng
Summary: A series of drabbles inspired by colors. Various characters, various relationships.
1. Green

**Disclaimer: I do not own** ** _Merlin_** **, its characters, settings, or events; all rights belong to their respective creators.**

 **So my NaNo goal for this year is at least one drabble a day (small, but bigger than last year, lol, and I've been wanting to experiment with drabbles). Apparently, the muse couldn't wait until NaNo actually started, so here's my first ever drabble. (Sorry for those waiting for a People update; it is in progress, even while I'm working towards my NaNo goal and is going very well at the moment.)**

 **This is looking to become a series of color-based drabbles for the Merlin fandom.**

 **Cover art by the ridiculously talented Phoebe594.**

 **Characters: Morgana, Arthur**

 **Relationship: Morgana and Arthur as siblings/childhood friends/enemies**

* * *

 _Green_

* * *

 _Sour and Alive and Cunning and Envy_

* * *

Green eyes, with all the sharp sting of sour apples and unyielding hardness of emeralds, the beauty of both and the liveliness of neither. Green as the garden snake he'd once thought to taunt her with—impressed in spite of himself when she'd smiled coyly instead of flinching—and just as cunning. Green as the grass they'd played on as children, fighting fiercely without his father's permission, their lives stretching before them as endless and full of possibility as the summer sky overhead. Green with an envy that sucked away her joy and her life and everything he'd once loved.


	2. Red

**The muse really can't wait.**

 **Character: Merlin**

 **Relationship: Merlin and Camelot**

* * *

 _Red_

* * *

 _Blood and Fire_

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Red was skinned knees, split lip, bloody nose, for the village bastard, the color of pain, but it was also the glow of embers at night, he and Mother, safe, warm, together. Red was Camelot, bloody or fiery death for being born as he was, the color of fear, but it was also Arthur, his friend and king and destiny, a brotherhood in all but blood and forged strong in fire. Camelot red—Arthur—was a desire to protect burning in his veins. Honor, justice . . . death. Red would always be a contradiction, a conflict within him, but it was home.


	3. Yellow

**Character: Merlin**

 **Relationship: Merlin and Freya**

* * *

 _Yellow_

* * *

 _Full Moon and Magic Creatures and Monsters and Treasure_

* * *

The moon hung yellow over Camelot each night, sad and lonely and full of promise and fate, like Freya whose eyes had mirrored it each night. Theirs had never been a sunshine love, but he had treasured her and those yellow eyes, never feared them—she was a creature of magic, like Kilgarrah, like Merlin. He had never felt alone with Freya and he had never felt more connected to her than when yellow eyes had shone and he saw that she feared being a monster as much as he did. She was worth so much more than Halig's gold.


	4. Black

**Character: Merlin**

 **Relationship(s): Merlin and himself; Merlin and Morgana as comparisons, to a lesser extent.**

* * *

 _Black_

* * *

 _Black Marks and Shadows and Ill Omens and Nightmares_

* * *

Merlin's midnight hair had never been compared to ravens, ill omens that they were; Merlin thought that hadn't changed his luck—he was cursed from birth with too many equally dark marks against him: he was a peasant, a bastard, clumsy. He had magic. Morgana—raven-haired, born with magic, born out of wedlock, so like him—fell prey to darkness (his fault?); he saw her—dark, lethal, inhuman—and he saw himself as he had always feared becoming, as he feared he was already. He saw in her the monster he kept hidden in the dark shadows clawing inside him.


	5. Blue

**Happy NaNo, everybody! May the inspiration flow and your fingers fly!**

 **Characters: Arthur and Merlin**

 **Relationship: Arthur and Merlin (friendship)**

* * *

 _Blue_

* * *

 _Cloaks and Childhoods and Blue Eyes and Belonging_

* * *

Merlin's telling a story about his childhood and mentions knights with blue cloaks and it suddenly hits Arthur: he forgets often that Merlin's not actually from Camelot. He belongs in Camelot as much as Arthur himself does, Arthur knows it in his bones. He fights for her and gives to her as Arthur does. What Camelot will be when he is king is down to Merlin almost as much as Arthur, if he's honest; the man Arthur will be, the same.

Blue eyes catch his own; Merlin smiles at him.

Blue cloaks in childhood or not, Merlin belongs in Camelot.


	6. White

**Character(s): Merlin, Aithusa**

 **Relationship: Merlin and Aithusa? Sort of? Maybe more like Merlin and his destiny, or just Merlin?**

* * *

 _White_

* * *

 _Dragon and Citadel and Hope and Head in the Clouds_

* * *

The dragon Merlin had called forth had pure white scales glistening like freshly fallen snow. Rare, Kilgarrah had said, a good omen. She was named for the dawn of a new age, a hopeful name. It was fitting that she matched the white walls of Camelot's citadel so well, that Arthur's home and Merlin's kin should share common traits, be connected beyond the Pendragon symbolism.

He lost hope sometimes, but then he'd remember Aithusa, picture her flying free and happy among the cotton clouds, a long life ahead of her, and he'd know that everything would be as it should.


	7. Brown

**Character(s): Arthur, Merlin only insofar as Arthur is considering him**

 **Relationship(s): Arthur and Camelot/Arthur and the throne; to a lesser extent, Arthur and Merlin, Merlin and dirt, and Arthur and uncomfortable and unfamiliar truths, lol.**

* * *

 _Brown_

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 _Dirt and Worth_

* * *

"Dirty" had always described peasants. It meant lesser, in importance, in worth, everything.

But Merlin picked up dirt as he worked each day: earth and bits of plant from picking or handling herbs; polish from boots, armor, tack; sawdust from firewood; blood from tending injuries; even battle sweat—the list went on. Merlin was dirty, but he wasn't less than anyone, no, he was hard-working and did what was needed without hesitating. His dusty brown jacket was as much a symbol of the Camelot Arthur was trying to forge as Arthur's own scarlet cloak.

Dirty was a badge of honor.


	8. Grey

**I am really enjoying these drabbles; I feel like it's a good exercise in honing certain skills. This one in particular, I'm not too sure about, though. Let me know what you think.**

 **Character: Merlin**

 **Relationship: Merlin and difficult decisions**

* * *

 _Grey_

* * *

 _Shadows and Choices and Balance and No Good Options_

* * *

There were many grey areas in Camelot. Magic and lying to the king were both illegal and yet to save lives they were often necessary. Killing was wrong, and yet it was also necessary more often than Merlin liked. Betraying one of his own kind felt terrible and yet it was necessary to save Arthur, to save the future of his entire kind. The kingdom itself was a balance of darkness—prejudice, slaughter—and glistening ideals—honor, justice, liberty—and Merlin's shadow life within it reflected that. Did the end justify the means? Or was that a little grey lie?


	9. Purple

**Character: Guinevere/Gwen**

 **Relationship: none; slight Arthur/Gwen if you want to read it that way (it wasn't intentional, but I do read it that way).**

* * *

 _Purple_

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 _Royal and Flowers and Beginnings and Steel_

* * *

Purple is a color that signifies royalty and the majesty and wisdom meant to be inherent in them. Purple is soft, gentle, feminine. Purple is violet and lavender and lilac, fragrant and sweet and alive and new when the earth awakens each spring; purple is dawn blooming fresh each morning, breathtaking, with the promise of hope on the breeze. Purple is the sheen on well-tempered steel when the night is dark and danger and adversity have left the faintest taint of blood, quietly brilliant in the glow of the moon and always beautiful and fierce and unyielding. Purple is Guinevere.


	10. Pink

**Character: Merlin (you can probably tell by now that he's my favorite)**

 **Relationship: maybe Merlin and Arthur? Pretty gen actually.**

* * *

 _Pink_

* * *

 _Blushes and Compliments and Humility_

* * *

Merlin's embarrassment was amusing, but confounding; it was predictable in its progression (always pink ears first), but not its cause. It was rare, Merlin's blush: Merlin seemed obtusely unembarrassed most of the time by his fatherless upbringing in a small farming village, by his status as a clumsy idiotic servant, by his tendency to be an absolute girl about everything and even cry. But every time anyone paid him the slightest compliment, Merlin's ears pinked.

Arthur had never blushed at a compliment, even the rare ones from his father. But then, he had never been a humble man.

Merlin was.


	11. Orange

**Character: Merlin**

 **Relationship: Merlin and Camelot and magic**

* * *

 _Orange_

* * *

 _Sunsets and Autumn and Camelot (red) and Magic (gold)_

* * *

Merlin sat on the parapets, basking in the warmth of the sunset and the magic of the earth. Most of the magic came from the sea of golds and reds and oranges outside the city limits, fields nearing harvest and forest in full autumn regalia, but even in the heart of the city—this city Uther had built—there were tendrils of natural magic, thriving. He loved this, letting the sounds of the kingdom he loved and the feel of magic swirl around and through him as one, blending seamlessly beyond influence of prejudice or vengeance, his heart at peace.


End file.
